The King of Pain: A Novel with Stories

"This is dark, sharp, very funny novel about imprisonment, torture and the dangerous pleasures of stories." -Zoe Heller, Notes on a Scandal

A riotously funny portrait of an out-of-control entertainment mogul and a dazzlingly original look at torture, The King of Pain is part Jennifer Egan, part Italo Calvino, part "Entourage," and 100%…
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Overview

"This is dark, sharp, very funny novel about imprisonment, torture and the dangerous pleasures of stories." -Zoe Heller, Notes on a Scandal

A riotously funny portrait of an out-of-control entertainment mogul and a dazzlingly original look at torture, The King of Pain is part Jennifer Egan, part Italo Calvino, part "Entourage," and 100% marvelous.

Rick Salter expects to be hated; after all, he’s the mind behind the outrageous—and outrageously successful—reality TV show about torture, “The King of Pain.” What he finds much more worrisome than the ire of cultural critics is that when he wakes up one Saturday morning, he’s trapped underneath his gigantic home entertainment system with no idea how he got there. Rick has 48 long hours ahead of him until his housekeeper will come to his rescue and nothing to pass the time except pain, bad memories—and a strange book he finds lying beside him. Called “A History of Prisons,” it is written by one Seth Kaufman, and it seems mysteriously relevant to Rick’s predicament…

Editorial Reviews

"This is a dark, sharp, very funny novel about imprisonment, torture and the dangerous pleasures of stories."

Zigzag Timeline - Mary Fan

"The King of Pain is a book with messages, wrapped in stories and sprinkled with wit, bound together by the themes of imprisonment and human endurance...Kaufman has created a brilliant satire that entertains as it sends its message. It's unique, original, and innovative, presenting commentary on modern culture while being wonderfully entertaining. I was so drawn into this book that I flew through it in less than two days, unable to put it down."

The BN Review - Quin Krovatin

"Seth Kaufman's hilarious novel is a multifaceted meditation on pain and entertainment in a deranged society where the two are often interchangeable."

John Darnton

'Seth Kaufman's novel is a hoot and a boot, a zany, unsettling, satisfying, post post-modern, tragic-comic tour of prisons around the world and pain in the human heart. Start it and you won't stop. If you're a claustrophobe, read it out-of-doors"

Zoe Heller

"This is dark, sharp, very funny novel about imprisonment, torture and the dangerous pleasures of stories."

Quin Krovatin

“Seth Kaufman’s hilarious novel is a multifaceted meditation on pain and entertainment in a deranged society where the two are often interchangeable.”